I can't imagine the past two years has helped with all the COVID protocols that universities have had, the remote learning, the shuttling on and off campus, etc. Combine that with the state of the world in general lately, and it's been a pretty rough stretch for anyone's mental health, let alone young adults who are still settling, subject to hormonal volatility, and less experienced at dealing with adversity in general.
In terms of the pros and cons of disclosure versus keeping the manner of death vague/unanswered, I will say I'm a bit sympathetic to the families in these circumstances, especially in the days/weeks right after. Unfortunately suicides have run through one side of my family so I have more experience with them than I would wish on anyone, and one of the immediate difficulties is that the loved ones of the deceased feel so much shame, responsibility, guilt, and often a sense that it's "on them" that they didn't properly detect something, intervene, etc. It can take a lot of time, healing, and therapy for loved ones to come to a place of acceptance to get past the what ifs of "if only I had intervened" or "she seemed down one time but I just assumed..."
Especially in the immediate aftermath of a terrible, life-altering shock like this, I genuinely understand the family's desire not to have this information become public, which only foster a very public examination and second-guessing of "were there signs," "should Stanford have done more," etc. I guess I think the family's specific preferences here matter more than the general desire to avoid stigma around this issue. To that end, for my part, I try to talk very openly, and without shame, about the family history of suicide, but I'm also far enough removed from it now that it's much less uncomfortable to do so. But I wouldn't second-guess the family of a suicide victim in the immediate aftermath.
In terms of the pros and cons of disclosure versus keeping the manner of death vague/unanswered, I will say I'm a bit sympathetic to the families in these circumstances, especially in the days/weeks right after. Unfortunately suicides have run through one side of my family so I have more experience with them than I would wish on anyone, and one of the immediate difficulties is that the loved ones of the deceased feel so much shame, responsibility, guilt, and often a sense that it's "on them" that they didn't properly detect something, intervene, etc. It can take a lot of time, healing, and therapy for loved ones to come to a place of acceptance to get past the what ifs of "if only I had intervened" or "she seemed down one time but I just assumed..."
Especially in the immediate aftermath of a terrible, life-altering shock like this, I genuinely understand the family's desire not to have this information become public, which only foster a very public examination and second-guessing of "were there signs," "should Stanford have done more," etc. I guess I think the family's specific preferences here matter more than the general desire to avoid stigma around this issue. To that end, for my part, I try to talk very openly, and without shame, about the family history of suicide, but I'm also far enough removed from it now that it's much less uncomfortable to do so. But I wouldn't second-guess the family of a suicide victim in the immediate aftermath.